I hadn't even heard of Journey Together before I saw a bunch of headlines of it selling out already, and now that I saw the card list, I'm really disappointed that I probably never will get it
I had the same problem!! Didnt even know you could already pre order it. But in the EU we dont even have any pokemoncenter. So i kept searching and Still found some good sellers having it in stock for the right price. So I hope you also still can find them 🙏🏼🙏🏼🍀
Don’t fomo- this is prerelease. It’ll be printed for years to come so you’ll definitely get some. A stamp on a PC ETB is nothing in the grand scheme of things, and make sure you don’t buy scalper prices
I’m enjoying collecting Japanese sets right now. The amount of stock available, quality of cards, and ease of purchase makes it easy to stay out of the chaos of English releases
Scalpers only exist by design. You can't scalp something people can find everywhere. Have people been scalping Shrouded Fable? Pokemon I think wants to do this and then they will increase print runs and people won't complain whereas when they did it before people did and boxes were cheap cheap
I’m just a little worried about the future. If even avid collectors are struggling to get product, how are the casual collectors who just want to go pick up a box at a local lgs gonna get anything because they wouldn’t even think about pre ordering. How will kids continue to stay interested if they can’t even get the new stuff. They’re the long term future of the hobby. Just a thought but we’ll see where things go
They literally had such devices in play The types of people able to afford mass quantities aren't being cheapskates with their bots. Think 3D not 2D brother
Btw it wasn’t sold out within an hour, it was sold out with minutes! I was at work and tried buying some ETBs after I saw a notification that it had been out for 15 minutes and it was too late 😢
Sigh, very sad as a player and collector that I can't even pull some cards to play with and collect. Thank you for the awesome commentary Philip and all you're doing for the community.
With the value of cards, I've wondered how those heavy into playing the tcg navigate this. I would be afraid to use them - or are the valuable cards not the most playable? I'm not very familiar with the modern game.
@@Laura.Monster17 Players buy minimum rarity singles. It only affects us when people hoard product and don't sell singles of any kind. For example, you can get the $500 SIR butthole Pikachu, or you can get the regular version for $5. Very few playable and rare cards come in at more than $20. The real problem is that 90% of the dialogue around Pokémon cards is about investment. Even if people claim to be collectors, the real reason they collect is because they care about value and leverage they can get from their collections
@@stevemoneybags9498Problem is that by that time someone with other responsibilities finds out that they've been losted it's too late. I don't have the time to wait in queues or constantly check places and stores online.
Today was a bit of a breaking point for me. This is 3 sets in a row where you have to either pay up or be constantly on the hunt to purchase. I was able to get 1 regular ETB for SS and Prismatic. Wasn’t so lucky this morning
The website was broken the entire time as well. I was able to add one to my cart, but it kept crashing and I'd have to restart. By the time the site stayed up it was sold out.
To be honest, this might be the best thing that can happen for me. This month is the first month I didn’t spend one dollar on pokemon. Everything is sold out or over priced… My swan song will be next Wednesday/Thursday/Friday. I live in a rural East Texas town, and if I can’t find any Prismatic product (I took Friday off to hunt 😅 and will hit multiple towns around me) I might just take a break for a while… I have been going strong the last 3 years, and have heaps of products/cards that I’m sitting on. Might be time to turn to a different interest and let what I have invested sit.
I started really collecting during stellar crown and when I was younger I would go through my brothers’s bulk for cute cards. It is so upsetting seeing how empty the shelves are and how many people can’t even get their hands on some cards!
Absolutely awful. Released somewhere like 5:45am PST and the website crashed by 6:05 or something. I had product in my cart for over an hour and it wouldn't go through. Super frustrating that they would have such an unfair and chaotic system. Not to mention the losers that immediately put them up for sale on eBay
I feel kinda bad then since I pulled up my phone in class at 8:50 and just bought my stuff. My first time buying a set and im already faced with the delema of if I should sell my 2nd etb cause the price is high.
I experienced this live, unfortunately i didnt get any of the new set. It's pretty sad to see what this will do to the hobby. There is not enough product and everything gets scalped right away. Thanks for the continuous updates brother!
Being a collector dealing with Prismatic Evolutions issues and seeing the terrible pull rates on it. Then seeing this selling out ridiculously fast I think I'll just stop worrying about upcoming sets and focus on a single here and there. The craziness (and terrible pulls) aren't worth it from a collecting standpoint. Shame
Man I’ve got about 45k in singles but even I think I’m done, this is getting ridiculous and It’s not fun anymore when you have to watch for preorders and check stores for 0 product all the time.
Pokemom definitely need to do something to stop this, these situations only benefits the scalpers. Raffles may be the way to go like they did for the Taylor Swift concert, but it will also make aftermarket price spikes even higher.
What’s really wrong is that there are scalpers out there who will try to create a demand and then sell the cards back for big bucks. And people like me who just want a etb or a booster box are rushed to get there’s before the scalpers, creating even more demand. I also collect amiibo so I’m very familiar with scalping. And it sucks.
It astonishes me in this day and age that this is even a thing anymore. Like it can't be hard to announce a product, let pre orders come in, then make your order to the printers to make enough for your pre orders plus some for stores. And it's not even like it breaks their production chain. Whatever set they would choose to do it on would be weird but then it's same as always. As I see it this is either a deliberate act on the side of Pokemon to artificially inflate the price (as seen by the crazy prices on their own website) or they are actually incapable of adapting to the rising popularity which being an almost 30 year old game I can't believe *Edit To add to this I've been playing Magic for close to 15 years now and I don't think they have basically ever had a problem with there not being enough product. Unless they made a conscious decision to under print it or not print it at all (looking at you reserved list)
I'm with you. I think delaying releases until you can keep up with the demand is something that needs to be considered. No fun for anyone paying 3x MRSP for brand new products.
Thanks for the video! It’s insane how fast everything sold out. I really hope Pokémon can release enough products on launch day so more fans can get their hands on them without the stress of missing out!
For this hobby to exist in 10-15 years we have to let the product for kids at parents prices not all crazy collectors. These kids will not care for the cards if they can’t love it like me and you did as kids.
my guess is scalpers have scripts with different emails / accounts / p.o. boxes etc. and they just run the script and poof they get as many as they can
site was constantly crashing and majority of the wins went to people who used bots (aka scalpers) sadly. wished they did it like pokemoncenter japan where there is a queue time and strict order limits
This is the direction the market seems to be heading, unfortunately. I believe one of two things will happen: either the market will correct itself, and prices will drop as supply increases and sellers struggle to move their products, or, as I suspect based on recent trends, prices for older items will continue to rise as the market adjusts across the board. We’ve already seen people willing to pay over $200 for loose Prismatic packs, and examples like Silver Tempest and Crown Zenith highlight this trend. It’s a clear reflection of the live auction era we’re in-great for sellers, but not so favorable for collectors unless they have deep pockets.
This demand is so unprecedented but I agree that things like pre-order delays to meet with the cycle timeline would really help, I feel especially bad for the kids man
Was somehow able to grab 2 ETB’s right before Pokemon centre went down. Very excited since it was my first time trying to get something on launch, I just got into the hobby a couple months ago. Very lucky!
I know all the pokemon center pre orders are sold out. But I easily ran over to my nearest GameStop and pre ordered a couple etbs. So hopefully the stock is good and everyone here can grab some! Good luck
They release the next set's pre-orders usually a week before a new set is released so I expected it, but it still surprised me today. Managed to get two pc etbs until the website kicked everyone. That was within minutes.
Something that needs to be fixed is also the way Pokemon does purchase limits. In some cases, you can order the max limit (let’s say 2) and then place another order for another max limit. I’ve done it myself for 151 booster bundles when the limit was 5 (I missed the 151 wave and wanted retail packs). I order 2 sets of 5 even though the “purchase limit” was 5. So I actually ordered 10. And if the bots are set up to just continuously max out orders and replace them, some scalpers are making out like crazy while others completely miss the product.
They did put hard limits in place for Prismatic after they saw how fast they were going - people were trying to order cases of ETBs and they were only able to order 2 per account/address. I imagine that they did the same with this set. I’m in the UK and managed to grab 2 ETBs, and an hour later everything was gone. It’s wild.
@gabestotler2417 they did that, I'm amazed at the lack of imagination VPNS exist, anyone semi skilled or have the capital to have a skilled person set up purchasing bots has the capabilities to use several VPN adjacent tools to trick a site.
I went to a Pokémon card convention in November and the vendors there were telling us how they couldn’t get any product for prismatic evolutions. This is just wild to see, I only started collecting card in May/June of 2024 but this is just making me want to stop.
I am so excited for a trainer Pokémon set since I have never been able to open up any of the expensive old ones. Also keep up the good work I love your videos on investing!
I appreciate your videos. I hope the journey together pre-orders are able to be full-filled in time. I missed out on prismatic evolutions so was quick to order 2 booster boxes of journey together. I am keen to see what is in the new sets.
I think a good solution is to mimic magic the gathering a bit. They have two different boxes, a collectors box and a players' box, one kinda goes up in price and the other normally stays the same. Pokemon Co. should have a collectors box with more ir and sir but NO normal ex cards and the players box will have regular ex, full arts and maybe 2 or 3 ir but NO sir cards. This could stop scalpers or investors from taking all the product before it hits the shelves, and allow the rest of the community to have a chance at some affordable cards.
I honestly think we have 151 to blame for this, it introduced so many new people to the hobby, mostly older people with a little bit extra disposable income. Oh! and the scalpers !
Just joined the hobby, managed to secure a pre-order in Australia for 1 ETB. It's my first ever ETB, the booster boxes sold out within 15mins and it doesn't even arrive here until March.
I just got back into this hobby about 4 months ago and was really looking forward to this set. I was really fortunate to pick up a preorder for an ETB at a local gamestop but you're right, you shouldn't need to preorder JUST to get a product at retail price. Scalpers ruining yet again another nice thing
I agree that something should be done about scalpers and/or bots. While on the PC site, I was asked to complete a "human verification test" so I'm unsure if that is their way of solving that issue. Pokemon makes it very easy to get overwhelmed, especially for newcomers to the hobby! Old or new sets, remember to have fun collecting!
I had NO IDEA that this set would sell out that fast - so grateful I actually got some preordered this time. But I'm with you, this is a problem that needs solving. It could really drive people away from the hobby in a way. And I'm thinking about the adults. This climate is going to make it impossible for kids to get into this - such a shame when I think about how fun it was to get cards. Not many parents are going to want/be able to deal with this.
I don t know if this situation is what Pokemon company wanted: to reach that quantity of hype and scalpers limiting the amount of sealed Products leading the top cards of each set to skytocket but they really need to do something, this situation has become horrible
Was a huge Pokémon fan as a kid now 20 years later collecting cards is a hobby again with my nephew. Got lucky to get him a etb this morning. Going to be fun opening it with him.
In EU we don't even have a PC so at least that's one less thing to worry about, but it sucks for everyone else. I hope they restock it so everyone that wants to get one will be able to. It completely overshadows the excitement for new sets and promos.
Loving all the info about the new sets selling out and stuff as a new collector. Really answering some questions that I had for the past 48 hours, much appreciated!
In the uk it was quite easy to get it, I had no problems but I might’ve missed it if I wasn’t on your discord cuz that’s where I saw the announcement! Thanks!!
I didnt even know that the pre order for Journey Together was coming out today until I saw something on social media. Then I found out it sold out within a hour, so I was too late. Hopefully I can get it in the future, even if its one pack for my collection.
I'm pretty new to the channel, watching some of your recent videos about Prismatic. Love to see more videos like this! Prismatic Evolutions took 10 hours until it sold out, and it also released other products in the next few days like the boost bundles. PC gave people time to purchase more Prismatic than Journeys together... I would love to keep one ETB PC in the collection, but sadly to say it sold out fast.
I seem to have come into the hobby at the worst possible time. My 6-year-old son is getting into collecting and I'm trying to encourage him and and start my own collection but the per-pack price is nuts right now. Luckily he doesn't care if he's opening the newest or most in-demand stuff so he's fine with Shrouded Fable and Stellar Crown packs. For a while I was holding him over with Trick or Trade but that's not cutting it anymore 😆 Thanks for all the content! Really enjoying the channel.
Currently collecting the Pokemon protagonists so I'm certainly waiting for whenever that Ethan's Pichu card is revealed... Alas I'll wait patiently for my turn to buy a booster box, thanks for the intel!
Wow even Celebrations wasn't half as crazy as 151 and it was the ultimate throwback set (next to Evolutions) showcasing the history of the Pokemon TCG. Who knew releasing a Gen 1 based set and Evolving Skies part 2 would set fire to the community lol.
Back to the community again after recently finding my old binders! Id love to be able to not have to spend 100 or more on a box… just hoping we pull something worth the value the value of the box! Love watching people rip the packs regardless and great vid!
So devastated to have not been able to place a preorder...And I'm super tryhard when it comes to refreshing until I get in!! This has become so unsustainable. I really hope the release day will have more stock since I've been so excited for this product design-wise!! Appreciate the quick video posting btw!
randomly saw on discord that it had dropped, but the website was impossible to use. couldn't sign in, and if the page loaded it was basically a screenshot that wasn't interact-able. eventually, I got blocked because the page thought I was a bot from just trying to sign into my account and refreshing the dead page.
that pikachu vmax is one my favorite card in the swsh era, currently looking for the pikachu v too, both of the cards looks so good together, one of the best trainer gallery cards ever!
i think that pokemon try to bring that old 1999 hype again ! they are releasing all this new sets making them so difficult to get it making them look iconic and definitely high value throughout time...
Love the content! Great to have some decent Aussie content for Pokemon! I’m new to the TCG world and your videos have helped heaps in understanding it more and more! Keep em coming😊
I'm going to sit back and get what I can. These sets will be available for a short period of time on store shelves, just like surging sparks was. Best Advice I can give is trying to find out when you're store stocks and make sure you're up there around that time and grab what you're looking for. It worked out for me pretty well with surging sparks. I will be doing the same with prismatic. I will tell you GameStop was running preorders on booster boxes and all the other product for this set all the way up until they closed tonight, and they should still be running it tomorrow, but you have to be in store to pre order. I like that they did that after the Tragedy that happened with prismatic. To combat against scalping GameStop made it in store only and only so many products per customer. Big shout out to them!! Great video and always good with the info.
Perhaps they should do it lottery style, enter names, date of birth, address, etc and then they give everyone like 1x box (maybe more) based on randomness as opposed to leaving it up to who's awake at 5am or what bots scoop them up.
I definitely think something has to be done to meet the demand of new sets. Everyone should have a chance to collect and open packs when a product is new!
I did not even know that this was an actual set until yesterday when I was randomly browsing the pokemon center website and I was like what is THAT and lol its already sold out. Will try to put in a pre order or two at JB Hi-Fi when they have it up.
This video is how I learned about the Journey Together set. That’s insane how fast it sold out; sellers really need to enforce some anti-scalper rules. I’m glad you’re bringing the real issues to light.
Gday Phil! Love the post. I agree it's a serious rough time. Even my preorder of Eng Prismatic has been pushed back a further 5 months for a single ETB by 1 day. It's impossible to beat the bots and disheartening. Cheers mate keep up the good work!
The same thing happened with Mint release coins. The mint used a third party platform and implemented a ballot system. Should be looked at and seriously considered.
I love your videos, you are very interesting! I just came back into the hobby during christmas, thinking it could be a fun, nostalgic and affortable way to change my mind during my PhD, since budget is vey tight 😳... Boy oh boy was I wrong seeing how it's going 😅
It really sucks how to even get a product you have to either beat out scalpers or wait months till hype dies down which is not even guaranteed now. Great commentary btw.
Was at work and checked as soon as I had a break and gone 🤣 love seeing the gains of my sealed collection but now I can’t even open a pack for fun cause I can’t find it 🤣 good information. Keep up the content.
I got extremely lucky and had alerts set up for restocks. Scooped up 2 etbs and a booster box in the end but man was it rough, I hope everyone is able to get their hands on it in the end.
I have been watching your videos the last couple of weeks after getting back into collecting Pokémon Cards after nearly 20+ years! Thank you for your videos. I really enjoy them. Hoping to be the lucky subscriber to win something one day!
Look Out For Squirtle
Join my discord and I will see you all on the 50-Packs Of Temporal Forces livestream giveaway!
🔗: discord.com/invite/2pMkYbdTC4
How are these people setting up these bots so quickly as soon as I found out I put in cart and it was shut down
Journey together but the journey is fighting with scalpers over boxes and packs 😂
And the bots!
I hadn't even heard of Journey Together before I saw a bunch of headlines of it selling out already, and now that I saw the card list, I'm really disappointed that I probably never will get it
You still might, I mean its very early days. Have hope! Might have to be quick for the booster boxes when they release
I had the same problem!! Didnt even know you could already pre order it. But in the EU we dont even have any pokemoncenter. So i kept searching and Still found some good sellers having it in stock for the right price. So I hope you also still can find them 🙏🏼🙏🏼🍀
GameStop still has preorders open but it’s in person you might still get lucky
Don’t fomo- this is prerelease. It’ll be printed for years to come so you’ll definitely get some. A stamp on a PC ETB is nothing in the grand scheme of things, and make sure you don’t buy scalper prices
@@phillips.collectibles thanks, I appreciate the optimism 😁
2:02 Anyone who buys an PCETB for $300 is a complete clown.
I’m enjoying collecting Japanese sets right now. The amount of stock available, quality of cards, and ease of purchase makes it easy to stay out of the chaos of English releases
Scalpers will be the bane of every collection hobby. These stores need a captcha system and a purchase limit per person
Scalpers only exist by design. You can't scalp something people can find everywhere. Have people been scalping Shrouded Fable? Pokemon I think wants to do this and then they will increase print runs and people won't complain whereas when they did it before people did and boxes were cheap cheap
But they don’t care cause money. They’re rather sell out in minutes than “be fair”
I’m just a little worried about the future. If even avid collectors are struggling to get product, how are the casual collectors who just want to go pick up a box at a local lgs gonna get anything because they wouldn’t even think about pre ordering. How will kids continue to stay interested if they can’t even get the new stuff. They’re the long term future of the hobby. Just a thought but we’ll see where things go
right? Like if even the collector nerds that woke up at 6am can't get them what chance do people have? And the resale prices are nuts too
It’s amazing how easy it is to put a Captcha in place to stop the bots. Shame that The Pokemon Company doesn’t feel like it.
bro there is... what we need is the waiting pool like the ones used for concert tickets! You wait, you got 10min to buy, next one.
They did do that dumb@$$$
Any decent bot can bypass a captcha
@@PokeFX_TubePokémon Japan just did that for their website
They literally had such devices in play
The types of people able to afford mass quantities aren't being cheapskates with their bots. Think 3D not 2D brother
Btw it wasn’t sold out within an hour, it was sold out with minutes! I was at work and tried buying some ETBs after I saw a notification that it had been out for 15 minutes and it was too late 😢
Same-it was gone by 9:05 EST.
@@SeanFlood-q1d 9:10
Sigh, very sad as a player and collector that I can't even pull some cards to play with and collect. Thank you for the awesome commentary Philip and all you're doing for the community.
Yeah I hear ya….very challenging at the moment. I'm sure it will turn around eventually.
With the value of cards, I've wondered how those heavy into playing the tcg navigate this. I would be afraid to use them - or are the valuable cards not the most playable? I'm not very familiar with the modern game.
There were preorders open all day. Best Buy, GameStop, forge and fire. If you only goal was to rip packs, you should have had no problem.
@@Laura.Monster17 Players buy minimum rarity singles. It only affects us when people hoard product and don't sell singles of any kind. For example, you can get the $500 SIR butthole Pikachu, or you can get the regular version for $5. Very few playable and rare cards come in at more than $20.
The real problem is that 90% of the dialogue around Pokémon cards is about investment. Even if people claim to be collectors, the real reason they collect is because they care about value and leverage they can get from their collections
@@stevemoneybags9498Problem is that by that time someone with other responsibilities finds out that they've been losted it's too late. I don't have the time to wait in queues or constantly check places and stores online.
Today was a bit of a breaking point for me. This is 3 sets in a row where you have to either pay up or be constantly on the hunt to purchase. I was able to get 1 regular ETB for SS and Prismatic. Wasn’t so lucky this morning
The website was broken the entire time as well. I was able to add one to my cart, but it kept crashing and I'd have to restart. By the time the site stayed up it was sold out.
To be honest, this might be the best thing that can happen for me. This month is the first month I didn’t spend one dollar on pokemon. Everything is sold out or over priced…
My swan song will be next Wednesday/Thursday/Friday. I live in a rural East Texas town, and if I can’t find any Prismatic product (I took Friday off to hunt 😅 and will hit multiple towns around me) I might just take a break for a while…
I have been going strong the last 3 years, and have heaps of products/cards that I’m sitting on. Might be time to turn to a different interest and let what I have invested sit.
I started really collecting during stellar crown and when I was younger I would go through my brothers’s bulk for cute cards. It is so upsetting seeing how empty the shelves are and how many people can’t even get their hands on some cards!
It just keeps getting worse and worse... scalpers are ruining every entertainment industry.
Following you for a little while now. The go-to channel for me for pokemon collecting!
I appreciate that my man! Thanks for engaging with the content.
Absolutely awful. Released somewhere like 5:45am PST and the website crashed by 6:05 or something. I had product in my cart for over an hour and it wouldn't go through. Super frustrating that they would have such an unfair and chaotic system. Not to mention the losers that immediately put them up for sale on eBay
Yeah same experience for me as well! I got randomly blocked from the site when I refreshed and it definitely did not help the frustration.
I feel kinda bad then since I pulled up my phone in class at 8:50 and just bought my stuff. My first time buying a set and im already faced with the delema of if I should sell my 2nd etb cause the price is high.
I experienced this live, unfortunately i didnt get any of the new set. It's pretty sad to see what this will do to the hobby. There is not enough product and everything gets scalped right away. Thanks for the continuous updates brother!
Being a collector dealing with Prismatic Evolutions issues and seeing the terrible pull rates on it. Then seeing this selling out ridiculously fast I think I'll just stop worrying about upcoming sets and focus on a single here and there. The craziness (and terrible pulls) aren't worth it from a collecting standpoint. Shame
Sorry to hear that brotha. It is tough though. Thanks for leaving some for the rest of us.
Man I’ve got about 45k in singles but even I think I’m done, this is getting ridiculous and It’s not fun anymore when you have to watch for preorders and check stores for 0 product all the time.
Pokemom definitely need to do something to stop this, these situations only benefits the scalpers. Raffles may be the way to go like they did for the Taylor Swift concert, but it will also make aftermarket price spikes even higher.
What’s really wrong is that there are scalpers out there who will try to create a demand and then sell the cards back for big bucks. And people like me who just want a etb or a booster box are rushed to get there’s before the scalpers, creating even more demand. I also collect amiibo so I’m very familiar with scalping. And it sucks.
It astonishes me in this day and age that this is even a thing anymore. Like it can't be hard to announce a product, let pre orders come in, then make your order to the printers to make enough for your pre orders plus some for stores.
And it's not even like it breaks their production chain. Whatever set they would choose to do it on would be weird but then it's same as always.
As I see it this is either a deliberate act on the side of Pokemon to artificially inflate the price (as seen by the crazy prices on their own website) or they are actually incapable of adapting to the rising popularity which being an almost 30 year old game I can't believe
*Edit
To add to this I've been playing Magic for close to 15 years now and I don't think they have basically ever had a problem with there not being enough product. Unless they made a conscious decision to under print it or not print it at all (looking at you reserved list)
I'm with you. I think delaying releases until you can keep up with the demand is something that needs to be considered.
No fun for anyone paying 3x MRSP for brand new products.
Thanks for the video! It’s insane how fast everything sold out. I really hope Pokémon can release enough products on launch day so more fans can get their hands on them without the stress of missing out!
For this hobby to exist in 10-15 years we have to let the product for kids at parents prices not all crazy collectors. These kids will not care for the cards if they can’t love it like me and you did as kids.
This new wave of pokémon collecting is truly crazy! Thanks for the info, new sub and loving the vids!
Wild how the ETBs had a limit of two and still sold out so quickly!!
That's what I was thinking!
Bots. Same bots that flooded the sneaker release hype
my guess is scalpers have scripts with different emails / accounts / p.o. boxes etc. and they just run the script and poof they get as many as they can
site was constantly crashing and majority of the wins went to people who used bots (aka scalpers) sadly. wished they did it like pokemoncenter japan where there is a queue time and strict order limits
@@lancehanks6238 it could also just be fans that want the set.
This is the direction the market seems to be heading, unfortunately. I believe one of two things will happen: either the market will correct itself, and prices will drop as supply increases and sellers struggle to move their products, or, as I suspect based on recent trends, prices for older items will continue to rise as the market adjusts across the board. We’ve already seen people willing to pay over $200 for loose Prismatic packs, and examples like Silver Tempest and Crown Zenith highlight this trend. It’s a clear reflection of the live auction era we’re in-great for sellers, but not so favorable for collectors unless they have deep pockets.
I was working. Had to hide in the washroom to try and secure a pre order and I still failed lol
OOOO a squirtle!
But this morning wasa nightmare. Had the 2 ETBs in my cart for over an hour and it wouldnt check out.
This demand is so unprecedented but I agree that things like pre-order delays to meet with the cycle timeline would really help, I feel especially bad for the kids man
Just found this channel the last few days and have been binge watching your videos! Love how well informed you are about the scene! Subscribed!
Was somehow able to grab 2 ETB’s right before Pokemon centre went down. Very excited since it was my first time trying to get something on launch, I just got into the hobby a couple months ago. Very lucky!
I know all the pokemon center pre orders are sold out. But I easily ran over to my nearest GameStop and pre ordered a couple etbs. So hopefully the stock is good and everyone here can grab some! Good luck
That was fast. I just finished opening Surging Sparks and didn't even know about this set. Wild.
Yeah Pokemon sets release pretty quickly!
They release the next set's pre-orders usually a week before a new set is released so I expected it, but it still surprised me today. Managed to get two pc etbs until the website kicked everyone. That was within minutes.
Something that needs to be fixed is also the way Pokemon does purchase limits. In some cases, you can order the max limit (let’s say 2) and then place another order for another max limit. I’ve done it myself for 151 booster bundles when the limit was 5 (I missed the 151 wave and wanted retail packs). I order 2 sets of 5 even though the “purchase limit” was 5. So I actually ordered 10. And if the bots are set up to just continuously max out orders and replace them, some scalpers are making out like crazy while others completely miss the product.
In other words, IP Addresses/device recognition needs to be put into place so the market can actually place limits, not just a limit on each order.
They did put hard limits in place for Prismatic after they saw how fast they were going - people were trying to order cases of ETBs and they were only able to order 2 per account/address.
I imagine that they did the same with this set.
I’m in the UK and managed to grab 2 ETBs, and an hour later everything was gone. It’s wild.
Ahh interesting thanks for the news
@gabestotler2417 they did that, I'm amazed at the lack of imagination
VPNS exist, anyone semi skilled or have the capital to have a skilled person set up purchasing bots has the capabilities to use several VPN adjacent tools to trick a site.
Bruh this market is just crazy, makes it hard to get any set for non scalper pricing its so sad.
I went to a Pokémon card convention in November and the vendors there were telling us how they couldn’t get any product for prismatic evolutions. This is just wild to see, I only started collecting card in May/June of 2024 but this is just making me want to stop.
I am so excited for a trainer Pokémon set since I have never been able to open up any of the expensive old ones. Also keep up the good work I love your videos on investing!
I appreciate your videos. I hope the journey together pre-orders are able to be full-filled in time. I missed out on prismatic evolutions so was quick to order 2 booster boxes of journey together. I am keen to see what is in the new sets.
I think a good solution is to mimic magic the gathering a bit. They have two different boxes, a collectors box and a players' box, one kinda goes up in price and the other normally stays the same. Pokemon Co. should have a collectors box with more ir and sir but NO normal ex cards and the players box will have regular ex, full arts and maybe 2 or 3 ir but NO sir cards. This could stop scalpers or investors from taking all the product before it hits the shelves, and allow the rest of the community to have a chance at some affordable cards.
I honestly think we have 151 to blame for this, it introduced so many new people to the hobby, mostly older people with a little bit extra disposable income. Oh! and the scalpers !
Just joined the hobby, managed to secure a pre-order in Australia for 1 ETB. It's my first ever ETB, the booster boxes sold out within 15mins and it doesn't even arrive here until March.
I just got back into this hobby about 4 months ago and was really looking forward to this set. I was really fortunate to pick up a preorder for an ETB at a local gamestop but you're right, you shouldn't need to preorder JUST to get a product at retail price. Scalpers ruining yet again another nice thing
Your channel is really helpful. Pokemon cards bring back old-school nostalgia for me. I used to collect Duel Masters and Yu-Gi-Oh too!
I agree that something should be done about scalpers and/or bots. While on the PC site, I was asked to complete a "human verification test" so I'm unsure if that is their way of solving that issue. Pokemon makes it very easy to get overwhelmed, especially for newcomers to the hobby! Old or new sets, remember to have fun collecting!
It can't be this hard to print more especially with what they say with Prismastic Evolutions. Love the video phillip!
I had NO IDEA that this set would sell out that fast - so grateful I actually got some preordered this time. But I'm with you, this is a problem that needs solving. It could really drive people away from the hobby in a way. And I'm thinking about the adults. This climate is going to make it impossible for kids to get into this - such a shame when I think about how fun it was to get cards. Not many parents are going to want/be able to deal with this.
Exactly what I've been saying, kids these days won't be able to find let alone afford pokemon cards
@@wafrikano honestly such a shame
The ups and downs of the hobby. Great vid! Keep up the good work.
I don t know if this situation is what Pokemon company wanted: to reach that quantity of hype and scalpers limiting the amount of sealed Products leading the top cards of each set to skytocket but they really need to do something, this situation has become horrible
Was a huge Pokémon fan as a kid now 20 years later collecting cards is a hobby again with my nephew. Got lucky to get him a etb this morning. Going to be fun opening it with him.
unfortunately wasn't able to secure any pre-orders on PC :( what a lovely time to be in the hobby!
In EU we don't even have a PC so at least that's one less thing to worry about, but it sucks for everyone else. I hope they restock it so everyone that wants to get one will be able to. It completely overshadows the excitement for new sets and promos.
Loving all the info about the new sets selling out and stuff as a new collector.
Really answering some questions that I had for the past 48 hours, much appreciated!
It’s crazy how I can be in bed sleeping and they announce a product and by the time I wake up it’s already gone
You have helped me alot in my collecting journey love how yob keep us up to date on the trends
A smart captcha when added and before checkout and limits man something has to give. Great video!
In the uk it was quite easy to get it, I had no problems but I might’ve missed it if I wasn’t on your discord cuz that’s where I saw the announcement! Thanks!!
I didnt even know that the pre order for Journey Together was coming out today until I saw something on social media. Then I found out it sold out within a hour, so I was too late.
Hopefully I can get it in the future, even if its one pack for my collection.
I'm pretty new to the channel, watching some of your recent videos about Prismatic. Love to see more videos like this!
Prismatic Evolutions took 10 hours until it sold out, and it also released other products in the next few days like the boost bundles. PC gave people time to purchase more Prismatic than Journeys together... I would love to keep one ETB PC in the collection, but sadly to say it sold out fast.
I seem to have come into the hobby at the worst possible time. My 6-year-old son is getting into collecting and I'm trying to encourage him and and start my own collection but the per-pack price is nuts right now. Luckily he doesn't care if he's opening the newest or most in-demand stuff so he's fine with Shrouded Fable and Stellar Crown packs. For a while I was holding him over with Trick or Trade but that's not cutting it anymore 😆
Thanks for all the content! Really enjoying the channel.
Currently collecting the Pokemon protagonists so I'm certainly waiting for whenever that Ethan's Pichu card is revealed... Alas I'll wait patiently for my turn to buy a booster box, thanks for the intel!
Limits are needed per account, per address. The fact that bots can REPEATEDLY order as many times as they can until the product is OOS is a PROBLEM.
Good luck to everyone getting this product, hoping it won't be too bad to get once it actually comes out.
Wow even Celebrations wasn't half as crazy as 151 and it was the ultimate throwback set (next to Evolutions) showcasing the history of the Pokemon TCG. Who knew releasing a Gen 1 based set and Evolving Skies part 2 would set fire to the community lol.
Back to the community again after recently finding my old binders! Id love to be able to not have to spend 100 or more on a box… just hoping we pull something worth the value the value of the box! Love watching people rip the packs regardless and great vid!
First time here gotta say love the tips and all the future news. Was collecting comics since the 80's but now switching over to tcgs. Thanks again.
Love the content! We just gotta wait and persevere for the long term!
So devastated to have not been able to place a preorder...And I'm super tryhard when it comes to refreshing until I get in!! This has become so unsustainable. I really hope the release day will have more stock since I've been so excited for this product design-wise!! Appreciate the quick video posting btw!
Great video very informative especially for someone who just recently got back into the hobby and is confused by how and why everything is sold out
I hope where i life that most websites wont pre order yet since i am still low on cash of prismatic
Watching this from Portugal, and thinking to expand a busisness here because ur videos! Keep going your GREAT work!
randomly saw on discord that it had dropped, but the website was impossible to use. couldn't sign in, and if the page loaded it was basically a screenshot that wasn't interact-able. eventually, I got blocked because the page thought I was a bot from just trying to sign into my account and refreshing the dead page.
that pikachu vmax is one my favorite card in the swsh era, currently looking for the pikachu v too, both of the cards looks so good together, one of the best trainer gallery cards ever!
i think that pokemon try to bring that old 1999 hype again !
they are releasing all this new sets making them so difficult to get it making them look iconic and definitely high value throughout time...
Grabbed an ETB and enhanced booster box. Was my first time ordering off PC so I'm super hyped
Love the content! Great to have some decent Aussie content for Pokemon!
I’m new to the TCG world and your videos have helped heaps in understanding it more and more!
Keep em coming😊
I'm going to sit back and get what I can. These sets will be available for a short period of time on store shelves, just like surging sparks was. Best Advice I can give is trying to find out when you're store stocks and make sure you're up there around that time and grab what you're looking for. It worked out for me pretty well with surging sparks. I will be doing the same with prismatic. I will tell you GameStop was running preorders on booster boxes and all the other product for this set all the way up until they closed tonight, and they should still be running it tomorrow, but you have to be in store to pre order. I like that they did that after the Tragedy that happened with prismatic. To combat against scalping GameStop made it in store only and only so many products per customer. Big shout out to them!! Great video and always good with the info.
Was trying to pre order the new set and the website kept blocking me. Once I finally got it in, it was sold out. It is crazy
Perhaps they should do it lottery style, enter names, date of birth, address, etc and then they give everyone like 1x box (maybe more) based on randomness as opposed to leaving it up to who's awake at 5am or what bots scoop them up.
Its so annoying as i work so much so i often am not around when they come out officially.
Love the videos keep it up!! 🎉
I definitely think something has to be done to meet the demand of new sets. Everyone should have a chance to collect and open packs when a product is new!
I did not even know that this was an actual set until yesterday when I was randomly browsing the pokemon center website and I was like what is THAT and lol its already sold out. Will try to put in a pre order or two at JB Hi-Fi when they have it up.
This video is how I learned about the Journey Together set. That’s insane how fast it sold out; sellers really need to enforce some anti-scalper rules. I’m glad you’re bringing the real issues to light.
Gday Phil! Love the post. I agree it's a serious rough time. Even my preorder of Eng Prismatic has been pushed back a further 5 months for a single ETB by 1 day. It's impossible to beat the bots and disheartening.
Cheers mate keep up the good work!
I can’t wait to see all of the trainers that’s what I love to collect. Hopefully Gabe will have some full art ones available cheers, mate.
The same thing happened with Mint release coins. The mint used a third party platform and implemented a ballot system. Should be looked at and seriously considered.
I love your videos, you are very interesting! I just came back into the hobby during christmas, thinking it could be a fun, nostalgic and affortable way to change my mind during my PhD, since budget is vey tight 😳... Boy oh boy was I wrong seeing how it's going 😅
It really sucks how to even get a product you have to either beat out scalpers or wait months till hype dies down which is not even guaranteed now. Great commentary btw.
Thanks for this video Phil! Hope the same issue doesn't happen in Aus..
One can hope. I think we’ll find it difficult to get booster boxes as well
It’s crazy I’m trying to get back into collecting after stopping from when I was a kid collecting the og sets still have that set all mint
I took your advice to get Poke Notify and because of that I was lucky enough to get 2 PC ETB’s and a BB. Thank you for that!
Great video. Hopefully it will be easier to get some cards after the set releases
Love your take, kids are really taking the worst of this problem on 😓 hopefully they can find a way to keep some packs on the shelves for them too
Was at work and checked as soon as I had a break and gone 🤣 love seeing the gains of my sealed collection but now I can’t even open a pack for fun cause I can’t find it 🤣 good information. Keep up the content.
I got extremely lucky and had alerts set up for restocks. Scooped up 2 etbs and a booster box in the end but man was it rough, I hope everyone is able to get their hands on it in the end.
Even if this hobby gets worse with time, at least we're on this Journey... Together.
I have been watching your videos the last couple of weeks after getting back into collecting Pokémon Cards after nearly 20+ years! Thank you for your videos. I really enjoy them. Hoping to be the lucky subscriber to win something one day!
I was so excited to hear there was a new set but everything was gone before I even woke up! Hopefully some local stores got any product near me...